Bloodlines
by Kushinada Uzumaki
Summary: AU: Uzumaki Hotaru was born with a rare bloodline that gave her an advantage no one counted on. Can she handle everything life throws at her when she's considered an outcast by most because of her bloodline which gives her cat-like horns and a strange ability? Add being the Jinchurriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and she'll either sink or swim. Fem!Naru. Itachi/fem!Naru.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. That includes Naruto or Elfen Lied. **

**Warnings: Some language. Violence. Possible gore. Semi-dark fem!Naruto. Fem!Naruto. Itafem!Naru. Slight crossover with Elfen Lied. **

**AN: Now, I know I have other stories but there are two story ideas that just wont leave me be. This one, and another called Nozomi which I'll post at a later date, I don't know exactly when. **

**Bloodlines will have a slight crossover with Elfen Lied, and what I mean by that is I am taking the Diclonius and making a history for them in this story. Some things that are true for the Diclonius in Elfen Lied wont be true in this story. **

**Like how they reproduce, in this story it doesn't matter they reproduce just like any other person, unlike in Elfen Lied. **

**Of course, only those who've read the manga or watched the anime will realize the differences, and one doesn't have to know to be able to read this. **

**Also, you might notice that this fem!Naru, also named Hotaru, a name I'll use for most if not all female Naruto's that have red hair, is portrayed by Lucy from Elfen Lied. **

**That's because it was easier to manipulate a picture of her to use in the title cover. And she is how I imagine Hotaru to look in this story. **

**Naruto (now Hotaru) will also be quite different from my other stories, as she wont only be ridiculed for Kyuubi but her bloodline as well. **

**She'll be a mix of the Naruto we all know and love and Lucy from Elfen Lied in personality. **

**Lastly, this story is a Itachi/Fem!Naru pairing. But that's later in the story. **

* * *

**Bloodlines **

**Chapter 1: Diclonius. **

Minato gently laid his wife on the bed, along with their newborn daughter.

What was supposed to be a time of happiness for them had become a time of panic.

He wasn't sure who had leaked information about Kushina and his marriage or the fact she was pregnant.

Of course it wasn't a secret Kushina was pregnant, but the fact she was his wife and he was the babies father wasn't common knowledge.

He trusted Kushina to protect herself, but until the child was a little older he hadn't wanted to come right out and let it be known he had a wife and baby on the way.

Iwa would have been the first to come after them, followed by any other enemy.

That was the least of his worries now. Someone had attacked after Kushina had given birth to their daughter, and released the Kyuubi from Kushina.

"Minato...Hotaru..." Kushina trailed off as she laid on her side, one curled protectively around their daughter.

Looking at them he sighed sadly.

Even now Hotaru looked so much like Kushina, though he could also see himself in her, her blue eyes for one. But her hair was a beautiful red, much like Kushina's if not a shade brighter, and lighter.

Only time would really tell.

The one thing that set her apart, besides the whisker birthmarks were the two protrusions from her skull, almost like cat ears. Horns.

Kushina had laughed when she'd seen them, muttering about long dormant bloodlines and her luck it would be her daughter to awaken in.

Diclonius, the name of the race the bloodline had come from. It was before the elemental nations had been formed, before chakra, that they existed.

The last Diclonii had a child with the first of Kushina's clan and the species became a bloodline over time.

It awakened once every few generations in a random number.

The last had been Kushina's grandmother, and unlike many bloodlines it was something they were born with, marked by the horns just like the ones his daughter sported.

It was something of a legend as to how the bloodline formed to outsiders, as only Uzumaki's knew the true origins.

He only knew because Kushina had told him.

"She's going to have a hard life, Minato," Kushina breathed, her eyes tearing up. "I never thought she'd be born with the bloodline... it's so rare."

"It doesn't matter Kushina," Minato said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She's strong, she'll get through it. You'll be there for her every step of the way."

Kushina's breath halted as her eyes widened and she sat up.

"Minato, what are you talking about! You'll be there too!" she exclaimed and Minato's eyes dulled as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Kushina, but I don't think I will be," he said. "I have to stop Kyuubi."

Kushina blinked and looked at Hotaru... realization hitting her.

Closing her eyes, a tear fell from the corner of her eye.

* * *

**Four Years Later: **

"Demon girl."

"Fox brat."

"It's obvious the girl isn't human, have you seen those things on her head?"

"I heard it was a bloodline?"

"Hmph, a demonic bloodline, maybe!"

Hotaru stared sadly at the ground as she stayed on the swing she had always frequented. Even at four the little redhead was intelligent, able to read and write very well for her age group.

It was only through a select few who took the time to teach her – Anbu who guarded her at times and on certain dates, and the Hokage when he had time – as the staff at the Orphanage she once stayed in didn't try very hard to teach the demon child how to be smart.

Even with the law that she didn't even know much about, she assumed it had to do with her bloodline, it didn't stop parents from keeping their children away from her.

There were a few exceptions, but most kids saw her as a freak with horns and either became scared of her or taunting.

There were those who would talk to her though.

Shikamaru, and Choji didn't mind talking to her or playing with her if they had the time, but they were also clan heirs and didn't have much time.

She didn't know much about what it was to be a clan heir, but from what they said they were the age that they began to really begin training and learning their family secrets.

In two or three years they'd begin the Academy.

She herself wanted to go to the Academy, but she was too young according to Hokage-jiji.

She didn't think so, but she didn't push the subject, he promised when she turned five he'd send her. Still young, but he thought it best she get used to it by sending her younger then her age group.

She supposed that meant he didn't think she'd pass the genin exams for a few years even if she did start at five.

Hotaru didn't really care, she didn't really understand emotions to well having never been exposed to many.

She got the theory and idea behind them but the ones she thought she felt most were apathy. She just didn't care for much.

She liked ramen, and the two who served it at Ichiraku's, they were always kind.

She wondered if they'd arrived in Konoha after she was born, as those who had been in Konoha on October 10th, five years ago, tended to hate her.

She didn't think it had much to do with her bloodline, though she was sure it helped.

She herself was just learning to control her bloodline properly. She had read about the history from scrolls her mother had left her, the only of her parents the Hokage had told her about.

Uzumaki Kushina... but of course she was forbidden to tell her mothers first name to anyone.

It was better she didn't even mention knowing about her mother, according to Jiji.

It wasn't like she had many people to tell, none that truly cared.

But that wasn't the point. The point had been her bloodline.

It was named Shinryoku by the Uzumaki when it first began appearing as a Bloodline.

It originated from the last of a humanoid race called Diclonii (Diclonius), though not much was known about the race besides the fact they were very powerful. They lived longer, aged slower, and were faster healers.

Some Uzumaki wondered if that was where their vitality, longevity, and healing came from.

The most noticeable traits among the Diclonius were their horns, reminiscent of cat ears on their head, and their vectors.

Vectors were invisible arms, that came from their back, or at least they seemed to from the few who could see them – it was possible but rare for a vector to become visible for a few seconds.

There was no set number of how many vectors one had or how many meters they'd go. It was unique for each person that would have the bloodline.

The vectors were able to do just about anything. Lift heavy objects, cut through flesh, or metals, earth etc.

of course this all took practice, and this was especially true when it became a bloodline about two centuries before Konoha was created, and about two more after the Elemental Colonies were founded and the Rikudō Sennin brought them chakra and the tailed beast.

So there was about four centuries, going on five, that it had become and been named a bloodline.

It had been around six centuries since their first Diclonius ancestor, and where the bloodline came from, a girl named Nyu, so there wasn't any chance of it being anything more than a rare bloodline kicking in.

She supposed it made her a Diclonius as well, though in the past it was not treated as more than a human awakening a bloodline.

For reasons stated above, the human gene was much more than the Diclonius gene as they're had been so many centuries between the last Diclonius having a child with the first of the clan and present day.

The reason the bloodline was named, Shinryoku, was because it was assumed the vectors had something to do with the horns and a persons mind.

Shinryoku could be translated as 'Mind Force'.

Simple sounding.

Though Hotaru thought the translation sounded kind of... weird, maybe cliché was the right word?

She herself had gained five vectors, but there were accounts in the scrolls of others gaining more with age, up until puberty.

The same could be said for the range, right now she could barely get one meter away with them, but it was good enough for her, for now.

She'd been training them for about a year now, and they could be used to pick objects up, but only small and light objects currently.

She could also move them through objects, intangible, but she didn't think that was much use.

She also knew her horns were sensitive, there was an account of one with the bloodline a few centuries ago who lost both her horns in battle and fell into a coma and never awoke.

There were other accounts of this happening, though some did wake, but only if the horns were able to grow back.

This was more common if they only lost one horn, but there was only a handful of cases of this happening in the scrolls.

She made sure to never tell anyone this weakness, it was the last thing she needed to worry about. If those of the village found out... she shuddered to know what they might try to do given a chance.

"Hotaru-chan," a voice said from behind her. "It's getting late you know."

Hotaru blinked her blue eyes and turned, seeing the Anbu behind her with a dog mask.

"Inu-san," she said softly. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late."

It had gotten late, there were no longer any children playing in the park, and nighttime was falling quickly.

Inu nodded, and looked at the child he knew to be his sensei's daughter.

She was small, even for a four year old, with shoulder length red hair, so much like Kushina's but a shade or two lighter... almost seeming brighter but still a dark red.

Her bangs were messier than Kushina's, almost spiky looking as they fell into her face at varying lengths that were intentional, the left side being slightly longer than the right.

The cat-like horns on either side of her head obvious, and looking as if they belonged there.

She looked quite a bit like Kushina, but also like Minato. Her slightly more pointed features came from Minato, as did her eye color.

The rest was clearly Kushina's influence, down to the whisker birthmarks she was born with seeing as Kushina had been the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki before Hotaru.

He was one of the very few to know Kushina had once carried the Kyuubi.

Though she looked like her parents, she had a personality that mostly her own. She was clam, like her father, yet she could be hyper and lively like her mother when she wanted.

Though she had a innocent look about her, he feared that wouldn't last. She already showed signs of bitterness and resentment towards eighty percent of the village.

She'd be a good shinobi when she was older, he knew that. He just hoped she didn't learn to hate humanity.

"Come on, Hotaru, I'll follow you home from the roofs to make sure you get there safely," Inu said, and smiled behind his mask slightly when the redhead looked up at him with wide sad eyes and smiled a little.


End file.
